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A shaman in tribal societies of Northern Eurasia is a person who can communicate with the spirit world in order to make the spirits help people in desired ways: healing, fortune telling, enchanting amulets etc. A shaman is supposed to enter an altered consciousness state to do this. For that they can take certain mushrooms or other substances, meditate, make hypnotizing music and dances and so on. In short, a shaman in a shamanistic belief system is like a priest in a religious system.

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In primitive cultures, someone who doesn't know any better.

In western society, a fraud robbing people of their money.

My neighbor, a very white dude with a Germanic last name, is a self-proclaimed Shaman - has a business web site and everything. Husband thinks he is a drug dealer. I think it’s a tax write-off. Either way, he has folks over at the equinoxes and they stand around a fire and beat a drum for a bit.

It’s curious, but so far, harmless.

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